Arguing over Applewood — No decision on apartment buildings’ fate

The Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals reaffirmed its position on the condition of four apartment buildings during a meeting Thursday, but no decision was made as to the fate of the buildings.

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By Beverly Majors

Oakridger - Oak Ridge, TN

By Beverly Majors

Posted Mar. 25, 2013 at 6:03 PM
Updated Mar 25, 2013 at 6:06 PM

By Beverly Majors

Posted Mar. 25, 2013 at 6:03 PM
Updated Mar 25, 2013 at 6:06 PM

Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals reaffirmed its position on the condition of four apartment buildings during a meeting Thursday, but no decision was made as to the fate of the buildings.

The board voted 5-0 to reaffirm a 2010 decision that four Applewood apartment buildings are unfit for human occupation and declared them nuisances.

The four buildings at 105, 115, 119 and 121 E. Hunter Circle have been the subject of a battle between the city of Oak Ridge and the apartments’ owner, Knoxville attorney Joseph Levitt.

The city has asked for years that the buildings be brought up to city code ordinance standards, but when they were deemed unfit, the city sought to have them demolished.

The decision has been upheld by the Anderson County Chancery Court and the Tennessee Court of Appeals, but still Levitt objects to the ruling, saying the city acted illegally in its inspections of the buildings and has denied him due process.

“That’s already been decided by the Court of Appeals,” City Attorney Ken Krushenski told the Knoxville attorney when he challenged the ruling in the meeting Thursday in the Municipal Building.

Krushenski’s remark came after Levitt questioned Board member Joe Lee about Lee’s alleged bias in the cases.

During the meeting, the two sides argued about points of law, the court’s ruling and a letter the city sent to Levitt in 2009 about the condition of the apartments.

Levitt also submitted new information about the condition of the four buildings, including a list of repairs submitted by Knoxville architect Jim Odle, who also attended the meeting.

According to Odle, who inspected the repairs about 10 days earlier, said extensive repairs have been made to support beams, floor joists, walls and plumbing.

Board members and Krushenski acknowledged that work had been done to the buildings, but Krushenski said, “We’re only here for whether they are uninhabitable. The final decision is they are unfit — period.”

Member Phil Nipper said the Board meeting Thursday “was to determine if the ruling is correct.”

Nipper said if code violations had been corrected then the board “would take a look.”

Odle produced a written summary and photos of the repairs, but Levitt refused to give the city attorney copies, stating that Krushenski had “withheld information” from him.

Lee said the submitted list and photos show work done on the buildings, but said, “I won’t accept this as evidence. We made a determination on Nov. 11, 2010, after spending Lord knows what to get everybody to the table. We’re just here to reaffirm we did the right thing.”

Page 2 of 2 - Krushenski recommended getting the engineering firm out again to review the report and check the buildings.